Japan

Panasonic secures remaining stakes for Sanyo takeover

Panasonic secures remaining stakes for Sanyo takeover Tokyo  - Japanese electronics giant Panasonic Corp has secured the takeover of competitor Sanyo Electric Co with deals to buy stakes in the smaller firm held by the US investment bank Goldman Sachs and two Japanese investment firms, the financial newspaper Nikkei reported Thursday.

Sanyo's management threw its support last month behind the takeover, which would create one of the world's largest consumer electronics companies.

Expectations for a rate cut send Tokyo stocks higher

Tokyo  - Stocks in Tokyo rose Thursday on investor speculation that the central bank would drop interest rates.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 54.71 points, or 0.63 per cent, to close at 8,667.23.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues also inched up 0.23 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 838.69.

The increases were seen as a two-day meeting of the Bank of Japan got under way Thursday with investors betting on a rate cut after the US Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark rate to a record low this week.

Health, family trouble Japan's emperor

Tokyo - As if the economic crisis engulfing Japan were not enough, bad news coming out of Tokyo's imperial palace have many Japanese worrying about things to come.

Doctors found traces of internal bleeding in the stomach and intestinal tract of Emperor Akihito, who turns 75 on December 23, as he was forced to cancel appointments because of irregular pulse and high blood pressure, raising fears over the health of Japan's ceremonial head of state.

The emperor is ill because of worry, many say, the Tenno being concerned over the succession and "various" other things, as Shingo Haketa, head of the arch-conservative Imperial Household Agency, hinted at.

Expectations for a rate cut send Tokyo stocks higher

Expectations for a rate cut send Tokyo stocks higher Tokyo  - Stocks in Tokyo recovered Thursday from early falls related to a strengthening yen because of investor speculation that the central bank would drop interest rates.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average was up 74.52 points in morning trading, or 0.86 per cent, at 8,687.04.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues also rose 2.64 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 841.1.

Panasonic secures remaining stakes for Sanyo takeover

Panasonic secures remaining stakes for Sanyo takeover

Canon mothballs plans for new digital camera plant

Canon LogoTokyo - Canon Inc has shelved plans to build a new 196-million-dollar plant for digital still cameras due to plunging demand, the Japanese electronics company said Wednesday.

Construction work for Canon's third plant, with a production capacity of 4 million units, was scheduled to start in January near Nagasaki in western Japan.

Canon originally predicted strong demand, but was forced to cut sales forecasts by 5 per cent to 27.9 million units in October due to demand falling amid the global financial crisis.

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